Your channel is so underrated it's criminal. Been loving your obscure Japanese gaming/anime content for awhile. I actually grew up playing Cyborg Hunter on Master System and I had no idea it was an anime/toyline until years later. Great episode!
The oddest thing about Zillion, for all this focus on Zillion the gun, and Sega turning it into a light gun for the Master System, why did they never develop a Zillion light gun game? I've heard murmurs that Assault City was originally meant to be a third Zillion game, but Sega has never conformed it. Also the first release of Assault City was joypad only, a much rarer light gun version was released later after complaints.
The light phaser wasn’t sold in Japan so that’s one thing! As for US/UK I really don’t know why there wasn’t a shooting game when there could have been. Thanks for coming by in day one! 🏍
Thank you! It always feels like I’m there, in different time and different place. That’s a mark of a professional video editor. Thank you for being in our lives !
14:28 I used to work in game QA. It's fascinating how many games shipped back then that had mechanics that rendered them unable to be completed. Great vid as always!
I'm still trying to get a copy of Borgman for Japanese Master system. I have Cyborg Hunter, but it be nice to have it to go with my Japanese Zillion games. I really enjoy your in depth features, especially when it comes to Sega and their 80s cross promotion ventures. Thanks as always.
Given Zillion 2 exists, the title certainly had me curious. I'm ultimately not sure what is funnier; 3:36's retrospectively ironic naming, 7:21's 22 year old head teacher alongside mere 16 year old teachers or the incredible oversight of 14:29 where the game developers clearly got too ambitious for the hardware they were working on. Fascinating video with tons of details and splendid presentation as always.
Well I guess it’s better to say follow up or spiritual sequel but I only have so much space… as far as how young they are it’s something left unsaid but there are very few old people in the show since the city was wiped out in 1999. As for the sonic naming, they had no idea 🏍🏍🏍🏍
Wowzers, yeah I thought all this borgman and zillion design work looked extraordinarily similar to Phantasy Star. Man, I love this channel so much. You make me smarter, in an esoteric sort of way...
Thanks GTV, the information you provide here is golden. It was a clever strategy for Sega to try to tap the multimedia approach with anime, video games, toys etc and seeing the result, they didn't half assed their work, Zillion is quite a descent serie by itself, especially for the time. Okay they hit the jackpot with sonic, but I wish they had pushed this strategy further with other licences so as to hit the double jackpot, maybe with an adaptation of wonderboy or (and that would have been a dream of mine) phantasy star (the same way dragon quest went for a manga and an anime). Man! we were close! it would have been grandiose
We think of Sonic as a smash hit because we are oriented towards video games but Sega had and still has its hands in many pots that bring in big money where we aren’t looking. They had cake makers in the 90s/00s and experimented with vhs game tapes for a while and still sell home planetariums and still make popcorn machines for kids in arcades
@@GTV-Japan oh? popcorn machine? lol yeah this brings money but I would have loved it if they had tried many more licenses and had an approach like level 5 that atop their well crafted games, gave children toys and anime at least for 2 series I know of : inazuma eleven and the youma inspired game. Like in star wars, once you hit the right tune, the license become money making machine (much more than just a hit game hitting the top chart of the year 1993 or so), Had they done that backin the days, I would be now searching ebays and japan's amazon for 1980's toys, goodies, VHS of street of rage, Golden Axe, PS, Space harrier and all. I would have wished that for them ^^ I am a Sega fan but don't see myself buying a Sega cake maker hehe, but good for them to have diverse incomes.
Wow, great video and the character designer in the OVAs it's Akira asamiya. The post apocalyptic world Classico in 80s, saludos camarada, and maybe a hint in the end from the next episode .
Very interesting to hear about the spiritual successor to Zillion. I have an ongoing theory that the phantasy star universe and zillion are closely connected because of all the similarities and crossovers. I think the advanced civilization that gives the zillion to the cast is from Phantasy Star especially because item boxes in PS are diamond shaped. In the Zillion intro it shows the guns being sent via a diamond shaped box as well. Not to mention the Zillion has appeared in the PS games a couple times, mostly the Online ones.
you must have been quite pleased then just looking at the ref at 17:39 when they show Toyo Ozaki's design :) Recently I had this character in mind (and Toyo Ozaki made an artwork of her last month to celebrate megadrive mini2) watching the video I was eyeing this dark blue hair scientist very strongly as she reminded me of PSII, when they said it was the same designer it totally made sense ^^ Now just imagine, we were an inch away from possibly getting a phantasy star OVA back then... would have been so cool.
When I watched the first episode I stood up and say noooo way! Also in Zillion there are strange cat like animals on Maris that resemble a proto Mayu. Oh if there were even just one ova episode! But please stay with me as I will share more and more over time
@@GTV-Japan Staying with you is a given ^^ I love your work and at my little level sent a link to your video on the PS community discord I am on hoping a few people might discover your work. And yeah just an OVA with this level of animation on phantasy star would have rocked. (not so fan of the sega Serie with Sonic, Nei and othersega characters though, it feels a bit on the cheap side and generic atop on being a parody)
wow! I never knew zillion had a whole cinematic universe going on, that's so cool! I knew about the first SMS game and the accompanying anime, but had no idea there were other sequels/spinoffs.
This was great. I had no idea I had the second opening to Borgman downloaded on my old Mac. I was just bing downloading cool anime songs lol. I always like, this song is great, what is it from? Now I know. I love 80s anime and Sega. Hey, I have an update video on the Gameboy Song. My lead is the singer might be Mickey Yoshino. He did the opening for a boxing anime called Kentoushi. I asked him on IG and he liked the comment. Who knows what that means lol.
Sounds like a series I would have loved as kid. Funny enough my boss and I were talking Master System games the other day and he couldn't remember the name of Zillion despite loving the game, thankfully I used my GTV knowledge to school him.
Wow! This video hit close to home. My very childhood. Sweet memories. So many "sentimental value" items reviewed here. Btw, you forgot to mention (or didn't notice) that Memory's brother Reminiscence looks very similar to Alis's brother Nero from Phantasy Star (on Master System). Even the way they're dressed and the pose they have while dying. Excellent channel. Keep the great job.
I didn't know that Sega and Zillion had a connection with Borgman since I always thought it was just a stand-alone show just to sell toys and games. True story- I think I was like 15yrs old, I usually go to school in the morning at 7am and when I accidentally turned on the TV at 6am, it was showing Borgman dubbed in Chinese. I was blown away by the opening songs and the action each time the Borgman get into their armours and the best thing, the show was aired from Monday to Friday at 6am so I watched till the finale and I was saddened by what happened to Memory and the show ended there. It was years later with the Internet that I found out about the extended ending from the music videos (Which were a thing during the 80s and 90s anime) and the sequels series. You were right that the sequels focus on drama than action and the fates of Ryo and Anisa were unknown in Borgman 2. Overall, this show is a hidden gem among the 80s anime.
So were the songs dubbed too? It must have been exciting! I suppose Ryo and Anise are fine in the future even though we don’t know where they are. Thanks for watching!!🏍🏍🏍
@@GTV-Japan No. They still use the original Japanese songs for both openings and ending and it rocked! And I find that it is odd that my TV station aired Borgman at 6am in the morning..really? Who are the target audiences? But I was lucky to watch it but upset none of my peers watched it...
I think a lot of tv like that is to fill quotas like saying you operated x number of hours a day if had x number of whatever genre. Maybe the advertisements were few and they ran psa instead. But hey you found it!
So about the woman - Miki Katsura that Chuck had the hots for,captain of the Phantom Swat who were seen here and there since her debut till the end of the TV show. Michitaka Kikuchi made art for her and her team and how they would act had they been given some screentime. This gave Michitaka Kikuchi/Kia Asamiya who is the character designer of the anime, ideas to make his own manga called Silent Mobius which not only gained a theatrical film, 2 in fact but that gained English dubs, reaching higher fame that even Borgman didn't, mangas were released outside of Japan by Viz and even gained itself video games and even a TV anime which also had an English dub. The story is similar to Borgman except it was focusing more on a group called AMP which is like Phantom SWAT but with various skills and personalities for each of the girls. It was cyberpunk action and I even gained a figure of Katsumi as well as a few mangas that Viz published. Kia Asamiya has a Twitter if you're curious. He's one cool guy. Tho I do wish Silent Mobius and Borgman gets another round. I'll be making some Borgman art in the future and all the more better if its Anise Firm who is the winner of Newtype magazine back in the day. Kia Asamiya-sensei should be proud of that. ^_^
@@GTV-Japan Whoever thought that something by SEGA would then gave way to SOOOO many crazy things - Sonic the Hedgehog, Silent Mobius and a ton more. Oh and even some Borgman characters made an appearance in the Machine Robo OVA - Leina and Laika Lightning 'Die Hard' Trap which you can see a young Ryo as one of the passengers in the plane. This makes Borgman somewhat related to Machine Robo in some capacity. Oh and one more thing. Both Miki Katsura and Katsumi 'Kat' Liqueuer were voiced by Naoko Matsui so Kia Asamiya was eyeing on his star player the entire time. Now that's some dedication to ya. Seeing this precursor to SM is like how AVGN explained Woody Woodpecker's connection to Bugs Bunny: th-cam.com/users/clipUgkxgllk56V44CyB7ls4OQUkwejFR9ii3Xpc Crazy I tell ya.
I love your uploads, man! I feel like I get brought up to speed on things that this morning I didn't even think to know existed. This channel is the one I get the most exited for whenever I see the notification. Actually though, you like to do videos on relatively obscure (to westerners) things and you saying the word Toho got me wondering if you'll ever consider doing a video on the danmaku game series Touhou
Thanks I’m glad I could give you something you’re looking for. As for that series I’ll add it to the list and in December I’ll decide all the topics for next year. I’ve decided to do all requests this time based on what’s been most asked so it might be a bit more mainstream but completely audience driven. Only 20 topics will make the cut! 🏍
Oh boy, this brings me back memory. As you correctly stated , in Italy we got borgman 2030 at the beginning of the ‘90s: being a huge cyborg fan, I bought it at once without knowing anything of the background , exception made for the little description behind vhs (back down there internet did not exist and it took years to be filled with anime related info in English ). A little more info were provided by last battle ending video, a mix of the 35 episodes parts from which you could grasp more or less what the story was about. I was overjoyed when years later Yamato video (back in the 90s the main Italian anime importer ) brought the whole series of 35 episodes dubbed in Italian, but I must confess that they were quite disappointing for the reason you stated: lovers rain and last battle are more focused on character relation , while the main series is a classic late 80’s action anime , with just the last few episodes interesting because they revealed a bit more of background. Fun fact: last battle ending song, while being catchy and going really well with the video, had really lame lyrics. For years I wondered about it, then after learning Japanese and translating it I laughed my ass so hard for it being so damn cheesy. However, thank you for this really nice video !
Great Video as Always I hope to see you do a Video talking about Magic Hat since I've always been looking up that Show when I first played it's Western Counterpart known as Decap Attack
When this started, I was confusing it with Armored Police MetalJack for the Super Nintendo, lol. I love old-school anime with this kind of look, but I guess I have to pay more attention when I'm confusing them all together like that 😄 I've heard of Cyborg Hunter on the Master System before, but never knew of its connection to Zillion - definitely gonna be firing up the emulators and giving that a shot now!
Metal Jack may be an interesting developmental story to tell considering it has a Super Famicom game that was set to be released in North America, but was scrapped even after the localization seemed pretty far along.
Thank you, I was totally sure there were a borgman game I saw for snes on a magazine back than (actually I’ve found this video looking for that ), but it was metal jack for sure!! Thanks for solving one of my childhood mysteries 😂
Man, that Super Thunder set toy is pretty cool...I would have loved it as a child. (Probalby didn't look as cool in person, though...but it was the 80s so whatever) Edit: Oh...wait, the helmet and stuff isn't part of it, lol. Ah well.
1:07 I like the design of that gun! It makes the Zapper look like prototype! 11:11 Okay! That's interesting! Of all the Light Guns I seen over the years like Konami's Enforcer and Namco's Optic Gun From Time Crisis, this is one for the record books for me.
3:19, ok...will be talking about the woman in blue armor a little later on after the video. 6:11, though just like the Getter Robo project, it was meant for space travel. Problems awry and that purpose was changed. 7:00, not to mention he's voiced by the Scott McNeil of Japan himself - Kazuhiko Inoue who's also appeared in ep. 19 of Donbrothers but I remember him as Kogane from not only Golion but also Rom Stol from Machine Robo Cronos. So awesome. 7:13, also my fave anime waifu. ^_^ Memories watching this years ago as a teenager in my last years of high school/secondary school. 7:44, wait. That was his name?! Reminisce..goddammit, Ashi. XD I only finished the anime due to horrible Hong Kong subs back then. The pronunciation was lost on me. 11:02, aw sweet. This commercial in HD. 17:47, I'm tempted to reference Billy Jean but alas, poor Memory. You shall be missed, moi dear. 19:50,I'm pretty sure these toys interacted with the TV more than another Ashi pro anime before Borgman - Machine Robo Battlehackers' Garzack since he was GOING to have a toy but it never got produced since was either too expensive or no interest in the Machine Robo line at this point. In other words, Garzack had no toy whereas Captain Power, Marin Gumi and Kamen Rider Black all had interactive toys in Japan under Bandai. This was the nail in the coffin for Bandai's TV Power line. Akira and Twin Cam Jimmy in Battlehackers did make a blink and you'll miss it cameo in ep. 9 when they had a boat race. Kinda seems like this was what Ashi wanted with Battlehackers but never got it since Bandai scrapped Garzack who was gonna get a toy to interact with the TV. I like Garzack but damn, that was sad. 20:30, this song makes me feel like Kamen Rider Black. 22:50 but no Omni dubs English dub? C'mon, man. A guy can dream. Need more Rik Thomas. 23:55, still creeps me out everytime. 24:20, srsly?!! Oh man. That woulda been sick to see. They knew what they were doing since that episode had amazing animation. 25:30, isn't that hilarious since it was unknown to everyone till the modern times when it got a new anime. Then it took off. Crazy life.
Wow I had no idea... I had the game zillion 2 and cyborg hunter and noticed the "spikes" that drain energy were the same and just thought they recycled assets at the time....
This might be an odd question, but in that museum with the Master System, the arcade joysticks look quite a bit like the ASCII sticks that were multiplatform-released on Famicom and PC-Engine. Do you know if ASCII had any particular role in the production to warrant their product placement in place of the original Mark III controllers?
@@GTV-Japan We didn't have mask,Transformers etc. but our building have own tv antenna so we were able to to catch some UK stations I think SKY and in Sunday or Saturday morning I was watching some of those cartoons. Also our city have few indie station operating by few students and they would uploading stuff from English networks,but it was all grey area since at the end of ex Yugoslavia it was possible harder to issue copyright notice to them if that was illegal or if they even noticed small indie channel. Didn't know this is on TH-cam.Thank you for the info,I'll definitely give it try! P.S. Here French,Belgian cartoons were popular among kids,and we have our dub translation . Like Asterix and Obelix,Smurfs etc.
Magic knight rayearth a sneak peak? during break time good one Probably its one of the best from clamp but nowadays they are more on cardcaptor Banpresto took them a long time to put them in super robot war Look forward in your future rayearth video if you doing it
I wish Discotek, Sentai Filmworks, or even Funimation (the one that licensed and released the Zillion anime & OVA) can get the series a release in the US. This anime looks interesting and we're living in a time where retro anime are finding new audiences in the US. There maybe people who played the video game under the name Cyborg Hunter that are now becoming aware of the anime connection to the video game and they may want to watch this anime too.
@@GTV-Japan There's been a few CG that try to replicate the charm of hand drawn animation - even as early 2004's Waking Life, the need was recognized. (It's not always the most successful attempt, but there was an attempt.) Today, the best still require talented artists going in and making personal adjustments. (Or, like Klaus, are just straight up 2d animation with CG enhancements over the top.) Unfortunately, it's really difficult to explain that one to the shareholders. And how many artists are talented in multiple mediums? Maybe the success of Arcane and Spider-Verse will make this more common in the future? It's easy to understand prior hesitation. Houseki no Kuni tried to be a sensible, budget friendlier compromise, saving the hand drawn enhancements for close-ups and sticking to subject matter that CG handles well...but it also only got one season. And when even big names like Berzerk and Studio Ghibli are coming up short in their 3d adaptation efforts, then it must be intimidating for rights holders to even try.
Well I can’t say that I’ve seen every work so there must be decent cg works I’ve missed. But it is just easier to hire cheap artists and let the computer do whatever. Also these cleaned up shows now on bluray can let us see all the detail that would be missed on a 13-19” sdtv. That’s for sure
@@GTV-Japan Agreed. You'd be lucky to even see a completely clear signal. And 240p VHS copies weren't helping matters. It's still a bit surreal seeing the artist's personality in every frame. As far as the shows/movies I've listed, I can recommend Arcane without hesitation - it even covers some of the same themes and emotional beats as Borgman - especially, the way it covers a lost family member/enemy and exploring the passage of time. It's not exactly shy about the debt it owes to Eastern storytelling forms. At times, it can be as exciting as any summer blockbuster, but it also believes in the importance of giving breathing room to a scene, and allowing characters to define themselves. It never assumes you're an idiot.
Gilbert Mesh. Like, Gilgamesh? Man, the Japanese sure have a way with subtlety and nuance. Also, since the Sonic Team uses Psycho Power, does that mean one of them eventually became M. Bison from Street Fighter?
Funny thing about Magical Hat being a coordinated media anime and video game blitz considering they changed the game to Decap Attack in the West. I kind of feel cheated Decap never got a cartoon series. A back-up comic for the British Sonic The Comic series, sure, but not a cartoon. Never saw any Magical Hat episodes, but I prefer the Monster Mash feel of the Western game.
No. The story takes place in 2033 long after Doh and his Nikes were forgotten. As an aside they left 2 people behind. They still run their website and if you email them a question they will write back!
It’s a coincidence! The term heavens gate goes all the way back to Shakespeare! So it’s been used in a lot of things. In the ova the leader considers an all cyborg planet as heaven on earth
I haven't played it but Zillion 2 does seem to get a lot of flak for not being the original Zillion game. I also find it odd they didn't release the third game as Zillion 3. I wonder why? 🤔 Did the original Zillion have lots of continuation OVAs as well?
It’s a tossup. They are both equally good. I think Borgman is a bit more humanized because the whole thing about a cataclysm and rebuilt society is a parable for 1980s Japan. But Zillion is more for those who like a little more exoticism.
@@GTV-Japan I think that it's a huge Bubblegum Crisis fan talking from deep inside me when I'm telling Borgman looks better to me)) Have you seen the Bubblegum Crisis? It's amazing, and it's on the verge between 80's and 90's anime tropes. Also Kenichi Sonoda's designs are simply fantastic.
@@GTV-Japan Well, this is where it get strange. When I played it on my Iphones via TH-cam app, it works fine. But when I'm playing this on the computer (I'm using right now), no image/video are shows up!!! I don't know what the hell's going on!!!
@@GTV-Japan Never mind, I already figured it out. How many browsers do you use GTV Japan? Because I used 2 different Google Chrome!!! The one that caused this video no to show up was Google Chrome Beta. When I played the video on a regular Chrome stable, the video worked like normal. So therefore there seem to be a bug in Chrome Beta that is causing the video not to display normally. So looks like I have to use regular Chrome, or YT app on my smartphone to watch your video without any problem until Chrome Beta get a patch that fixed the bug issue.
Q: What is the Zillion renamed to in Cyborg Hunter?
Rai gun?
Ray Gun lol. What a bland name for it.
@@stephencook7337 should have supa sanik
@@stephencook7337 To us for sure but to the Japanese it would seem like a cool forein fictional weapon.
@@daisukegori2112 Washi ga OtokoJuku Jukucho Edajima Heihachi de aru!
I have a meeting in 15min and there is a 30min video released here... Guess I'm not paying attention to the start of the meeting.
Don’t get busted!
@@GTV-Japan i didn't, also you have a better voice than my company's senior VP of technology.
Feather meet cap! ❤️❤️❤️
Your channel is so underrated it's criminal. Been loving your obscure Japanese gaming/anime content for awhile. I actually grew up playing Cyborg Hunter on Master System and I had no idea it was an anime/toyline until years later. Great episode!
It’s funny to think of all these unknown unknowns just hanging out there waiting to be discovered. Thanks for watching as always!
The oddest thing about Zillion, for all this focus on Zillion the gun, and Sega turning it into a light gun for the Master System, why did they never develop a Zillion light gun game? I've heard murmurs that Assault City was originally meant to be a third Zillion game, but Sega has never conformed it.
Also the first release of Assault City was joypad only, a much rarer light gun version was released later after complaints.
The light phaser wasn’t sold in Japan so that’s one thing! As for US/UK I really don’t know why there wasn’t a shooting game when there could have been. Thanks for coming by in day one! 🏍
sometimes people just leave money lying on the table
Thank you! It always feels like I’m there, in different time and different place. That’s a mark of a professional video editor. Thank you for being in our lives !
Thanks for supporting the channel with your viewership! I hope I can live up the slogan I set for myself “time slip in every scene” 🏍🏍🏍
My Friday just got much better, Thanks GTv!! 😁
You’re welcome 🏍
Thank you bringing up another part of Sega's anime history I knew about Zillion but I didn't know about this one 😁
Now you know! Also go watch the series with the link I provided 🏍🏍🏍
@@GTV-Japan Thank you and I will
14:28 I used to work in game QA. It's fascinating how many games shipped back then that had mechanics that rendered them unable to be completed. Great vid as always!
You truly had an impossible mission on your hands!🏍🏍🏍
This was awesome! I love retro anime and games, especially Sega. Please keep up the great work.
Thanks I’m glad you like it! It’s the 4th or 5th tv show I’ve done so check out the old ones and I’ll make a few more next year too
I'm still trying to get a copy of Borgman for Japanese Master system. I have Cyborg Hunter, but it be nice to have it to go with my Japanese Zillion games. I really enjoy your in depth features, especially when it comes to Sega and their 80s cross promotion ventures. Thanks as always.
Thanks for watching I hope you find a copy someday. Looking at yahoo auc I don’t see any copies right now. It must be rare!🏍
Given Zillion 2 exists, the title certainly had me curious.
I'm ultimately not sure what is funnier; 3:36's retrospectively ironic naming, 7:21's 22 year old head teacher alongside mere 16 year old teachers or the incredible oversight of 14:29 where the game developers clearly got too ambitious for the hardware they were working on.
Fascinating video with tons of details and splendid presentation as always.
Well I guess it’s better to say follow up or spiritual sequel but I only have so much space… as far as how young they are it’s something left unsaid but there are very few old people in the show since the city was wiped out in 1999. As for the sonic naming, they had no idea 🏍🏍🏍🏍
Wowzers, yeah I thought all this borgman and zillion design work looked extraordinarily similar to Phantasy Star.
Man, I love this channel so much.
You make me smarter, in an esoteric sort of way...
Thanks for the support! Much appreciated!
Thanks GTV, the information you provide here is golden.
It was a clever strategy for Sega to try to tap the multimedia approach with anime, video games, toys etc and seeing the result, they didn't half assed their work, Zillion is quite a descent serie by itself, especially for the time.
Okay they hit the jackpot with sonic, but I wish they had pushed this strategy further with other licences so as to hit the double jackpot, maybe with an adaptation of wonderboy or (and that would have been a dream of mine) phantasy star (the same way dragon quest went for a manga and an anime).
Man! we were close! it would have been grandiose
We think of Sonic as a smash hit because we are oriented towards video games but Sega had and still has its hands in many pots that bring in big money where we aren’t looking. They had cake makers in the 90s/00s and experimented with vhs game tapes for a while and still sell home planetariums and still make popcorn machines for kids in arcades
And thanks for watching!!🌟🌟🌟
@@GTV-Japan oh? popcorn machine? lol
yeah this brings money but I would have loved it if they had tried many more licenses and had an approach like level 5 that atop their well crafted games, gave children toys and anime at least for 2 series I know of : inazuma eleven and the youma inspired game.
Like in star wars, once you hit the right tune, the license become money making machine (much more than just a hit game hitting the top chart of the year 1993 or so), Had they done that backin the days, I would be now searching ebays and japan's amazon for 1980's toys, goodies, VHS of street of rage, Golden Axe, PS, Space harrier and all.
I would have wished that for them ^^
I am a Sega fan but don't see myself buying a Sega cake maker hehe, but good for them to have diverse incomes.
Yeah it’s just how a company that started before video games would operate. Epoch was another like this.
Another hidden gem of TH-cam.
Thanks for supporting the channel!!
Wow, great video and the character designer in the OVAs it's Akira asamiya. The post apocalyptic world Classico in 80s, saludos camarada, and maybe a hint in the end from the next episode .
The hint is for next year but for next video I will say come hungry 🤤
Amazing video! I’ve been a Borgman fan since i was a kid and I finally learned so much about it in this video!
Happy to deliver !! Thanks for watching on day one!!🏍
Very interesting to hear about the spiritual successor to Zillion. I have an ongoing theory that the phantasy star universe and zillion are closely connected because of all the similarities and crossovers. I think the advanced civilization that gives the zillion to the cast is from Phantasy Star especially because item boxes in PS are diamond shaped. In the Zillion intro it shows the guns being sent via a diamond shaped box as well. Not to mention the Zillion has appeared in the PS games a couple times, mostly the Online ones.
That’s possible!
Found this channel randomly while looking up phantasy star stuff and wow, am I ever happy I did. Great content!
Thanks I’m glad you like the channel!💫
you must have been quite pleased then just looking at the ref at 17:39 when they show Toyo Ozaki's design :)
Recently I had this character in mind (and Toyo Ozaki made an artwork of her last month to celebrate megadrive mini2)
watching the video I was eyeing this dark blue hair scientist very strongly as she reminded me of PSII, when they said it was the same designer it totally made sense ^^
Now just imagine, we were an inch away from possibly getting a phantasy star OVA back then... would have been so cool.
When I watched the first episode I stood up and say noooo way! Also in Zillion there are strange cat like animals on Maris that resemble a proto Mayu. Oh if there were even just one ova episode! But please stay with me as I will share more and more over time
@@GTV-Japan Staying with you is a given ^^ I love your work and at my little level sent a link to your video on the PS community discord I am on hoping a few people might discover your work.
And yeah just an OVA with this level of animation on phantasy star would have rocked. (not so fan of the sega Serie with Sonic, Nei and othersega characters though, it feels a bit on the cheap side and generic atop on being a parody)
wow! I never knew zillion had a whole cinematic universe going on, that's so cool! I knew about the first SMS game and the accompanying anime, but had no idea there were other sequels/spinoffs.
Yep! The zillion lives on in the future. Funny enough it will soon be the past
This was great. I had no idea I had the second opening to Borgman downloaded on my old Mac. I was just bing downloading cool anime songs lol. I always like, this song is great, what is it from? Now I know. I love 80s anime and Sega. Hey, I have an update video on the Gameboy Song. My lead is the singer might be Mickey Yoshino. He did the opening for a boxing anime called Kentoushi. I asked him on IG and he liked the comment. Who knows what that means lol.
That’s some good detective work!
I watched this at lunch during work. Those dog yoma have some nice animation. I wonder if the artist studied jungle cats at a zoo.
Amazing detail in a simple tv show🏍
Sounds like a series I would have loved as kid. Funny enough my boss and I were talking Master System games the other day and he couldn't remember the name of Zillion despite loving the game, thankfully I used my GTV knowledge to school him.
Woohoo! Thanks for doing that. As for the show all the episodes are on yt with subtitles so go for it!🏍
Well, day off tomorrow so as a tradition, GTV marathon! Still enjoying your videos! Gracias!
Woo hoo! More coming too! Have a good weekend
Wow! This video hit close to home. My very childhood. Sweet memories. So many "sentimental value" items reviewed here. Btw, you forgot to mention (or didn't notice) that Memory's brother Reminiscence looks very similar to Alis's brother Nero from Phantasy Star (on Master System). Even the way they're dressed and the pose they have while dying. Excellent channel. Keep the great job.
I guess i must have missed that. Thanks for watching!
I didn't know that Sega and Zillion had a connection with Borgman since I always thought it was just a stand-alone show just to sell toys and games. True story- I think I was like 15yrs old, I usually go to school in the morning at 7am and when I accidentally turned on the TV at 6am, it was showing Borgman dubbed in Chinese. I was blown away by the opening songs and the action each time the Borgman get into their armours and the best thing, the show was aired from Monday to Friday at 6am so I watched till the finale and I was saddened by what happened to Memory and the show ended there. It was years later with the Internet that I found out about the extended ending from the music videos (Which were a thing during the 80s and 90s anime) and the sequels series.
You were right that the sequels focus on drama than action and the fates of Ryo and Anisa were unknown in Borgman 2. Overall, this show is a hidden gem among the 80s anime.
So were the songs dubbed too? It must have been exciting! I suppose Ryo and Anise are fine in the future even though we don’t know where they are. Thanks for watching!!🏍🏍🏍
@@GTV-Japan No. They still use the original Japanese songs for both openings and ending and it rocked! And I find that it is odd that my TV station aired Borgman at 6am in the morning..really? Who are the target audiences? But I was lucky to watch it but upset none of my peers watched it...
I think a lot of tv like that is to fill quotas like saying you operated x number of hours a day if had x number of whatever genre. Maybe the advertisements were few and they ran psa instead. But hey you found it!
So about the woman - Miki Katsura that Chuck had the hots for,captain of the Phantom Swat who were seen here and there since her debut till the end of the TV show. Michitaka Kikuchi made art for her and her team and how they would act had they been given some screentime. This gave Michitaka Kikuchi/Kia Asamiya who is the character designer of the anime, ideas to make his own manga called Silent Mobius which not only gained a theatrical film, 2 in fact but that gained English dubs, reaching higher fame that even Borgman didn't, mangas were released outside of Japan by Viz and even gained itself video games and even a TV anime which also had an English dub. The story is similar to Borgman except it was focusing more on a group called AMP which is like Phantom SWAT but with various skills and personalities for each of the girls. It was cyberpunk action and I even gained a figure of Katsumi as well as a few mangas that Viz published.
Kia Asamiya has a Twitter if you're curious. He's one cool guy. Tho I do wish Silent Mobius and Borgman gets another round.
I'll be making some Borgman art in the future and all the more better if its Anise Firm who is the winner of Newtype magazine back in the day. Kia Asamiya-sensei should be proud of that. ^_^
Thanks for sharing! I did like her inclusion into the storyline
@@GTV-Japan Whoever thought that something by SEGA would then gave way to SOOOO many crazy things - Sonic the Hedgehog, Silent Mobius and a ton more. Oh and even some Borgman characters made an appearance in the Machine Robo OVA - Leina and Laika Lightning 'Die Hard' Trap which you can see a young Ryo as one of the passengers in the plane.
This makes Borgman somewhat related to Machine Robo in some capacity.
Oh and one more thing. Both Miki Katsura and Katsumi 'Kat' Liqueuer were voiced by Naoko Matsui so Kia Asamiya was eyeing on his star player the entire time. Now that's some dedication to ya.
Seeing this precursor to SM is like how AVGN explained Woody Woodpecker's connection to Bugs Bunny: th-cam.com/users/clipUgkxgllk56V44CyB7ls4OQUkwejFR9ii3Xpc
Crazy I tell ya.
I loved silent moebius , I was soooooo into kiddy phenil, lol 😂😂😂
I can’t wait until my free period to watch this.
I hope it’s not for long! 🏍
This looks awesome! Ya got me surfing eBay for the English Borgman DVDs while watching the video xD
There’s a channel that has them on here. Though it’s only the OVAs.
@@GTV-Japan Oh nice! I'll check that out, thank ya :D
I love your uploads, man! I feel like I get brought up to speed on things that this morning I didn't even think to know existed. This channel is the one I get the most exited for whenever I see the notification.
Actually though, you like to do videos on relatively obscure (to westerners) things and you saying the word Toho got me wondering if you'll ever consider doing a video on the danmaku game series Touhou
Thanks I’m glad I could give you something you’re looking for. As for that series I’ll add it to the list and in December I’ll decide all the topics for next year. I’ve decided to do all requests this time based on what’s been most asked so it might be a bit more mainstream but completely audience driven. Only 20 topics will make the cut! 🏍
Oh boy, this brings me back memory. As you correctly stated , in Italy we got borgman 2030 at the beginning of the ‘90s: being a huge cyborg fan, I bought it at once without knowing anything of the background , exception made for the little description behind vhs (back down there internet did not exist and it took years to be filled with anime related info in English ). A little more info were provided by last battle ending video, a mix of the 35 episodes parts from which you could grasp more or less what the story was about. I was overjoyed when years later Yamato video (back in the 90s the main Italian anime importer ) brought the whole series of 35 episodes dubbed in Italian, but I must confess that they were quite disappointing for the reason you stated: lovers rain and last battle are more focused on character relation , while the main series is a classic late 80’s action anime , with just the last few episodes interesting because they revealed a bit more of background.
Fun fact: last battle ending song, while being catchy and going really well with the video, had really lame lyrics. For years I wondered about it, then after learning Japanese and translating it I laughed my ass so hard for it being so damn cheesy.
However, thank you for this really nice video !
Wow what a great story!! Thanks for sharing
@@GTV-Japan thank you for this video, I found it randomly yesterday and I've already signed up to your channel!
All right great!!! Thanks. The next video is coming in about 3 hours actually!
Thanks for another informative and thoroughly enjoyable video. I definitely need to look into this series.
Thanks and there’s a link to all the episodes in the video information or you could just search Borgman episode 1 and find it easy🏍🏍
@@GTV-Japan You're the best! Thanks again.
No problemo
Great Video as Always
I hope to see you do a Video talking about Magic Hat since I've always been looking up that Show when I first played it's Western Counterpart known as Decap Attack
I’m watching the episodes now. Expect it to be one of the first videos in 2023!
Awesome video and channel🙏....
Love it
Thanks very much! Why not make it a marathon this weekend 🍺? 🏍🏍🏍
Iove the commercials. Your vibe is so strong
Thanks! Most anime shows like that only run commercials for toys based on the show during the program so that’s where the idea comes from
@@GTV-Japan I dig it
Great Stuff!
Thank you once again for another great video.
You’re welcome!🏍 see you again in 2 weeks
When this started, I was confusing it with Armored Police MetalJack for the Super Nintendo, lol. I love old-school anime with this kind of look, but I guess I have to pay more attention when I'm confusing them all together like that 😄
I've heard of Cyborg Hunter on the Master System before, but never knew of its connection to Zillion - definitely gonna be firing up the emulators and giving that a shot now!
All right! Sounds good! And bonus points for proudly using an emulator and saving your money!!🏍🏍
Metal Jack may be an interesting developmental story to tell considering it has a Super Famicom game that was set to be released in North America, but was scrapped even after the localization seemed pretty far along.
Thank you, I was totally sure there were a borgman game I saw for snes on a magazine back than (actually I’ve found this video looking for that ), but it was metal jack for sure!! Thanks for solving one of my childhood mysteries 😂
Thanks for another great recomemmdation.
You’re in the good place!🏍
Man, that Super Thunder set toy is pretty cool...I would have loved it as a child.
(Probalby didn't look as cool in person, though...but it was the 80s so whatever)
Edit: Oh...wait, the helmet and stuff isn't part of it, lol. Ah well.
They had some pretty neat toys that’s for sure 🏍🏍🏍
1:07 I like the design of that gun! It makes the Zapper look like prototype!
11:11 Okay! That's interesting!
Of all the Light Guns I seen over the years like Konami's Enforcer and Namco's Optic Gun From Time Crisis, this is one for the record books for me.
I love the original zillion but the remodel, built by Dave, has its charm too.
@@GTV-Japan It was remodeled?
Yes. In episode 10 the original gun gets destroyed
@@GTV-Japan Didn't know that!
Gotta watch! It’s a great show
3:19, ok...will be talking about the woman in blue armor a little later on after the video.
6:11, though just like the Getter Robo project, it was meant for space travel. Problems awry and that purpose was changed.
7:00, not to mention he's voiced by the Scott McNeil of Japan himself - Kazuhiko Inoue who's also appeared in ep. 19 of Donbrothers but I remember him as Kogane from not only Golion but also Rom Stol from Machine Robo Cronos. So awesome.
7:13, also my fave anime waifu. ^_^ Memories watching this years ago as a teenager in my last years of high school/secondary school.
7:44, wait. That was his name?! Reminisce..goddammit, Ashi. XD I only finished the anime due to horrible Hong Kong subs back then.
The pronunciation was lost on me.
11:02, aw sweet. This commercial in HD.
17:47, I'm tempted to reference Billy Jean but alas, poor Memory. You shall be missed, moi dear.
19:50,I'm pretty sure these toys interacted with the TV more than another Ashi pro anime before Borgman - Machine Robo Battlehackers' Garzack since he was GOING to have a toy but it never got produced since was either too expensive or no interest in the Machine Robo line at this point. In other words, Garzack had no toy whereas Captain Power, Marin Gumi and Kamen Rider Black all had interactive toys in Japan under Bandai. This was the nail in the coffin for Bandai's TV Power line.
Akira and Twin Cam Jimmy in Battlehackers did make a blink and you'll miss it cameo in ep. 9 when they had a boat race. Kinda seems like this was what Ashi wanted with Battlehackers but never got it since Bandai scrapped Garzack who was gonna get a toy to interact with the TV. I like Garzack but damn, that was sad.
20:30, this song makes me feel like Kamen Rider Black.
22:50 but no Omni dubs English dub? C'mon, man. A guy can dream. Need more Rik Thomas.
23:55, still creeps me out everytime.
24:20, srsly?!! Oh man. That woulda been sick to see. They knew what they were doing since that episode had amazing animation.
25:30, isn't that hilarious since it was unknown to everyone till the modern times when it got a new anime. Then it took off. Crazy life.
Your comments kept getting caught in the filter. Probably because they’re so long. Anyway I let them free.
awesome video, thanks a lot!
No problem!
Wowow...hope that blu ray box shows up in the states, Zillion did on blu ray.
That would be nice but if you have a region A player then you can still play it, if that never comes to pass.
I played Cyborg Hunter, of course I was unaware of it being based on Borgman that time.
Another case of the old switcheroo!
Wow I had no idea... I had the game zillion 2 and cyborg hunter and noticed the "spikes" that drain energy were the same and just thought they recycled assets at the time....
Fascinating!
And the story will continue!🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍
This might be an odd question, but in that museum with the Master System, the arcade joysticks look quite a bit like the ASCII sticks that were multiplatform-released on Famicom and PC-Engine. Do you know if ASCII had any particular role in the production to warrant their product placement in place of the original Mark III controllers?
I have no information sorry. But it wouldn’t surprise me there was some arrangement.
I would definitely love this anime as kid. I like M.A.S.K,Transformers even tho I didn't understand much english when we catch the signal here.
That’s cool. I didn’t know those got shown there. The full series is on yt so why not watch if you have time
@@GTV-Japan We didn't have mask,Transformers etc. but our building have own tv antenna so we were able to to catch some UK stations I think SKY and in Sunday or Saturday morning I was watching some of those cartoons. Also our city have few indie station operating by few students and they would uploading stuff from English networks,but it was all grey area since at the end of ex Yugoslavia it was possible harder to issue copyright notice to them if that was illegal or if they even noticed small indie channel. Didn't know this is on TH-cam.Thank you for the info,I'll definitely give it try!
P.S. Here French,Belgian cartoons were popular among kids,and we have our dub translation . Like Asterix and Obelix,Smurfs etc.
I can’t imagine the signal going that far! Awesome
Magic knight rayearth a sneak peak? during break time good one
Probably its one of the best from clamp
but nowadays they are more on cardcaptor
Banpresto took them a long time to put them in super robot war
Look forward in your future rayearth video if you doing it
Yes I will cover that next year. It takes time to watch the whole series and play the games but it will be here in the future!🏍
Excellent "Metal Hero-esque" anime show. Watched all episodes and OVA. I say it worth watching if you tired of modern "ultra-kawai" anime. 10/10.
If only Borgman 2 had continued..
I wish Discotek, Sentai Filmworks, or even Funimation (the one that licensed and released the Zillion anime & OVA) can get the series a release in the US. This anime looks interesting and we're living in a time where retro anime are finding new audiences in the US. There maybe people who played the video game under the name Cyborg Hunter that are now becoming aware of the anime connection to the video game and they may want to watch this anime too.
Careful now, you're gonna spawn an ultra-kawaii Borgman.
(I'd buy it)
Very cool
🏍
4:30 they all look so freaking creepy!!!
And they are coming for us!
Damn...I miss the art style of old animes from the 80-90's.
Hand drawn was great! There is perfection in imperfection. Something CG can’t replicate. 🏍
@@GTV-Japan
There's been a few CG that try to replicate the charm of hand drawn animation - even as early 2004's Waking Life, the need was recognized. (It's not always the most successful attempt, but there was an attempt.)
Today, the best still require talented artists going in and making personal adjustments. (Or, like Klaus, are just straight up 2d animation with CG enhancements over the top.) Unfortunately, it's really difficult to explain that one to the shareholders. And how many artists are talented in multiple mediums?
Maybe the success of Arcane and Spider-Verse will make this more common in the future? It's easy to understand prior hesitation. Houseki no Kuni tried to be a sensible, budget friendlier compromise, saving the hand drawn enhancements for close-ups and sticking to subject matter that CG handles well...but it also only got one season. And when even big names like Berzerk and Studio Ghibli are coming up short in their 3d adaptation efforts, then it must be intimidating for rights holders to even try.
Well I can’t say that I’ve seen every work so there must be decent cg works I’ve missed. But it is just easier to hire cheap artists and let the computer do whatever. Also these cleaned up shows now on bluray can let us see all the detail that would be missed on a 13-19” sdtv. That’s for sure
@@GTV-Japan
Agreed. You'd be lucky to even see a completely clear signal.
And 240p VHS copies weren't helping matters.
It's still a bit surreal seeing the artist's personality in every frame.
As far as the shows/movies I've listed, I can recommend Arcane without hesitation - it even covers some of the same themes and emotional beats as Borgman - especially, the way it covers a lost family member/enemy and exploring the passage of time. It's not exactly shy about the debt it owes to Eastern storytelling forms. At times, it can be as exciting as any summer blockbuster, but it also believes in the importance of giving breathing room to a scene, and allowing characters to define themselves.
It never assumes you're an idiot.
I’ll make sure to look it up!
Gilbert Mesh. Like, Gilgamesh? Man, the Japanese sure have a way with subtlety and nuance. Also, since the Sonic Team uses Psycho Power, does that mean one of them eventually became M. Bison from Street Fighter?
Haha I never saw that
It's a shame we only got a few English dub episods and the Oav movie. The English voices had that unmastalable 80s charm.
They called Ryo “Ro.”
This, is GTV.
Funny thing about Magical Hat being a coordinated media anime and video game blitz considering they changed the game to Decap Attack in the West. I kind of feel cheated Decap never got a cartoon series. A back-up comic for the British Sonic The Comic series, sure, but not a cartoon. Never saw any Magical Hat episodes, but I prefer the Monster Mash feel of the Western game.
There are a million things to unpack there and in due time it shall be done! 👳♀️ ✡️
Heavens gate was an early adapter to the internet. Is the cult in the ova related to the us one?
No. The story takes place in 2033 long after Doh and his Nikes were forgotten. As an aside they left 2 people behind. They still run their website and if you email them a question they will write back!
@@GTV-Japan I was more asking if the ova had borrowed the name or if it was just a coincidence.
It’s a coincidence! The term heavens gate goes all the way back to Shakespeare! So it’s been used in a lot of things. In the ova the leader considers an all cyborg planet as heaven on earth
I haven't played it but Zillion 2 does seem to get a lot of flak for not being the original Zillion game. I also find it odd they didn't release the third game as Zillion 3. I wonder why? 🤔
Did the original Zillion have lots of continuation OVAs as well?
No. Just the one video.
@@GTV-Japan Strange they didn't make more.
They were on to bigger and better
Well, Borgman anime series looks/sounds WAY better than the Zillion's one, imho^^
It’s a tossup. They are both equally good. I think Borgman is a bit more humanized because the whole thing about a cataclysm and rebuilt society is a parable for 1980s Japan. But Zillion is more for those who like a little more exoticism.
@@GTV-Japan I think that it's a huge Bubblegum Crisis fan talking from deep inside me when I'm telling Borgman looks better to me)) Have you seen the Bubblegum Crisis? It's amazing, and it's on the verge between 80's and 90's anime tropes. Also Kenichi Sonoda's designs are simply fantastic.
I have!
@@GTV-Japan then you should know what I mean)) it's fantastic^^
Heaven's Gate?!?!?! GTFO LOL That is crazy!
Yeah. Weird huh?
@@GTV-Japan I know dude. :)
Your videos kick ass
Thank you!
Hey something's wrong with your video, no images or picture are showing up at all. You may want to fix this!!!
What? No! I’ll look into ot
It looks ok to me. I wonder what’s up
@@GTV-Japan Well, this is where it get strange. When I played it on my Iphones via TH-cam app, it works fine. But when I'm playing this on the computer (I'm using right now), no image/video are shows up!!! I don't know what the hell's going on!!!
Weird. I’ll figure it out
@@GTV-Japan Never mind, I already figured it out. How many browsers do you use GTV Japan?
Because I used 2 different Google Chrome!!! The one that caused this video no to show up was Google Chrome Beta. When I played the video on a regular Chrome stable, the video worked like normal.
So therefore there seem to be a bug in Chrome Beta that is causing the video not to display normally. So looks like I have to use regular Chrome, or YT app on my smartphone to watch your video without any problem until Chrome Beta get a patch that fixed the bug issue.
more like the original neon Genesis
Bonus point!
Wait..what?
For real!